Three-dimensional picture



July 11, 1950 G. TowNE THREE DIMENsIoNAL PICTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 12, 1947 IN VEN TOR. 651/5 7//1//V5 BY July 11, 195o Jul? 1l, 1950 G. TowNE 2,514,814

THREE DIMENSIONAL. PICTURE Filed Dec. 12. 1947 :s sheets-sheet s- JNVENTOR. 654/5 @WA/- BY l Patented July 11, 1950 rHrtEEgmMENsIoNAL Pic'rUruc;`

Gene-Towne, Seattle,`v Wash.'v

Application December 12, 1947.. SerialNo, '791,377y

(orcsi) 2 Claims.

, if. Y fflhisinyention relatesy oo billboards capable f showing three dimensionalor stereo, pictures of the stereo.line.type.. Itis. particularly directed to};the,.',solution ofthe heretofore unsolved problemro'f makingwvery` large stereo pictures, for instance k1of. llbillboarc'l size ,in contrast to the .more

l advanced'-developinent of.the,stereoline art in relation, toipictures ,of portrait size `in which the largeroimensionis on the order ,of,'20, inches or less.. i l

It is'. unnecessary.,to describe all fthe obstacles th2ft,..have ,preventedthe stereo picture ,from be.- ingnsed onhllboards,` butin orderthat the mag-r nitude .of the,A Problem shall ,not .berminimizedi the following illustration is given.;Y If, a,` standard lli"` X .141 lstereoline ,negative ,provided with ,80 stereo lines. ,to .the 4 inch visenIarged to 22. x, 28'.' there ,will .be. only 40 stereoli'nes tothe inch. l If thesizeisincreasedto a more 44` x56" thelineage-,ispnlyztothe incll`.,Astlie,lines are reduced in number .they [increase in sizaand lose detail). 1 Infthe meantimeA the. originalI5 stereo screen` used ntakinglfthe picture has Lbecometoo small, of wrong lineage, anda new screen haste bebonstructedfat considerable lineageV to Lserre the new. picture. The, ,expense tof. Yforming Abillboard siz'e lenticular screens on prior art principlesis prohibitive andithe expanse of opacity Ainl a` large line screenloi proper,lineage obscures the picturewhen .viewedfrom billboarddistance. Y The single problem of constructing screens equipped with halff-inch diameter `lenses 6 ,feet long. that fwill matchi` the .lineage of a,- stereo line `enlargement vis onefoireal.magnitudenot onlyrom the technical viewpoint, as approached'from thepractices Yof theprior art, butrromtheitenrotcost. Anexemplary 6" X191 billboard -wouldsreqliire prior, -art lenticulatedf..,plastic plates having. in their.7^ surfaces yabout Zfillof such' sixfoot lenses.

Now, billboards are made to be viewed `at 'great distances, liordnstance, at 100 `.,iefet..v When prior artstereo'pictlures are .viewed from such distances thestereoeiect.disappears. vPlace amrior art stereo picture at billboarddistance and it appears.

' ilat, or. withimperfect roundness ,depending on s qdairgethat thepeyes Eof the observerV could. see

l only a smallpart of it,

It` is` a primaryobjectof, thistinvention to extend thestereo art to billboard jsize,gboth. byl di-4 rect; enlargementigof stereo line .negatives and bit the simultaneous projection through a* stereo screen ofangularlydiiierent Views of an object. By the use of 4the word billboards is indicated not only the dimensions of billboards but the whole order of magnitude beyond that heretofore practicable to this art; It rthus includes not only actual billboards, ,but other largesizeshowings such as museum displays, wall covers, and por# traits yinsizes that are usually made in the plane picture,eld'byphotolofting A major dimension of, approaches alimit of` size for satisfactory enlargingjof prior art stereopictures .whilethis invention'` provides` for practical and satisfactory production of pictures having v dimensions rated `in feet rather than ininches.

Another object is to discover anddisclose prin= ciples thatwillipermit billboards lto be made in large sizes-nd viewedlat vadistance.' ,u

' Another'ob`ject of the inventionis to prepare new; large `Vstereo 'lenticular screens by new and improvedmethods' of manufacture.` i

Another Vobject isto prepare stereo line pictures andtlenticular grids ,in large-'sizes in cooperating lineage: Within this object ofthe invention it is intended to .produce pictures in various Vsizes-that conform to-thelineage of asingle screen, in 'or-f der that`a billboard may bedivided in partsthat receive separate subjects, permissibly in different scale:

V Another objectof the-inventionl is to-'furnish `billboards with permanent,` adjustable screens; and' to "print stereo pictures in conforming lineeA age" on paper byprinting processes `so that con; ventional billboard operations will suffice to change ,the sh'owingofa board;

. In practicingthe invention,` `l follow certain conceptions that; may. be mathematically reduced toaccuracysuicient for every situation. Among such conceptionsare theser. that'each billboard, particularly thoseot `-lenticular.A type,A should,v be constructed ,with due-regard for a selected, effec-V tivewviewingadistanceand that such construction involves-fthe novel-Iconcept -ospacing the stereo screen," away: from r:the f stereo line .picture Va dis-'g tance related to the viewingfidistanceg:and inferfectformingthe stereorpicturefwith' due regard to the angles of projectionA of thelseveral views that go to makeup the composite.- Thus, in the struc#l ture-theangularjrelation of the views to each otherbears -a'relation yto theangles ofy View be-l tween the observerls eyes, vand this is regulated by the use of lenses of segmentary type having an arcV lesswthanxlSOP and usually only,a fraction thereof;v Thesesegrnentary lensesare segments 3 of optical cylinders and have chords subtending arcs of less than 180.

It will be thought to be unusual for such great differences to arise from a change in size of the picture, but in this case due to the optical principles involved a reconstruction in whole or in part of the picture and even of the making thereof is involved.

The accuracy employed in the following iign ures is suiiicient to demonstrate the principles. They can be carried out to selected decimal places Whenever greater accuracy is desired.

A person with normal vision lookingat an object seven feet away has about 2 of arc of view about the object as a center. When inspecting a standard stereo picture this separation gives an approximation of normal roundness, of true ster-- eoscopic reliefpas though one looked at the thing itself. At 100 feet distance the roundness has disappeared, or depends on other conditions.

` screen in a selected position, with respect to the Stated simply, the baseline angle of the eyes is so great at such a distance that stereoscopic eifect is lost. In order to regain that stereoscopic effect the screen must be moved away from the stereo lines in order to re-establish by the lenses the pictorial separation that has been lost by the eyes. When this is attempted the lenses of the prior art no longer serve.

In order to accomplish the invention it Was concluded that the observer at the selected distance of observation must be able to see all the angular views of the object by moving through the same arc included by the photographing camera. ture he should be able to see all viewson the stereo lines by moving through an arc of inches, if the taking camera covered an arc of 20 inches. If at a distance of 100 rfeet the'observer has to move through an arc of 69 feet, which is what would be presented by semi-cylindrical lenses of 1A," radius at their focal length of .725 inch, he cannot get a true stereo effect. However, by selecting lenses that properly rconcentrate the viewing arc at the selectedviewing distance, satisfactory stereo effect is secured. The figure of 20 inches and 100 feet is only an example to illustrate the principle.

The projector in making the stereo picture should make the same angles With respect to the Thus, at 100 feet distant from the pic- ,i I

screen at each position. Thus, at five feet the extreme right hand view might make an angle of 10. to a perpendicular to the screen. At 20 feet that angle should be the same, although the distance to the next view is of necessity greater.

y In practicing the invention I employ the conception of spacing the stereo screen from the stereo line picture. This principle is employed so that the picture will be seen in critical focus from a particular, selected location. I also employ the concept of making the viewing screen of separate lenses. It is also part of the invention to construct billboards in sections and to constitute each section, or the whole board, a photographic plate for the photographic printing in stereo lines of a picture.

In one form of the invention a large billboard is made with a frame having a perfectly straight supporting ledge. The face of the billboard is composed of a plurality of sections, having accurately aligned abutting edges and having bearing edges that rest on the supporting ledge and keep the abutting edges in place. The lstudio is pro-` vided with a similar accurate supporting ledge upon which the sections of the billboard rest When the picture is being applied to the board. i

.position of the board, which is selected with regard for the normal position of best view of the board. The projector is fixed with respect to an axis of the studio frame, the studio and eld frames have such axes in common, and such axis of the eld frame coincides with the like axis of the screen; thus, a picture projected onto the billboard in the studio is automatically aligned with the stereo screen when the billboard is mounted in the eld frame.

Instead of proceeding photographically one may proceed by ink printing processes. The billboard being mounted in the studio frame, which may be outdoors or indoors, a printed picture on ordinary billboard paper but in stereo lines according to the principles of my prior applications, in stereo lineage like that of the field frame screen, is carefully aligned With the frame and iixed to the board. The frame itself may have aligning marks corresponding to the position of the viewing screen, or a viewing screen may be projected onto the board from a projector for purposes of alignment.

, When such pictures are mounted in the leld frame they give excellent stereo reproductions.

In one form, the supports on the frames are machined angle metals, andthe picture board has a cooperating machined metal foot, or if it is in parts, each part has such a foot.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views:

Fig. 1 is an end view of semi-cylindrical lenses made from a cylinder and Fig. 2 is a side view thereof.

Figs. 3 and 4 are front and side views, respectively, of a billboard including such lenses.

Fig. 5 is a modication of the structure of Fig.

Figs. 6 and 7 are vertical sections through billboards constructed according to the invention.

Fig. 8 is a section through a modified form of viewing screen.

Fig. 9 is a, diagrammatic side view of a billboard section exposed to picture projection.

Figs. 10 and 11 are face and horizontal sectional views, respectively, of a stereo line screen billboard.

Fig.r 12 is an end View of a lens made by shaving or grinding one face of a square rod of optical material such as glass or transparent plastic to a curve of selected radius.

Fig. 13 is a diagram of the principles employed in projection. l,

Fig. 14 is a diagram of the principles applied to a -foot viewing distance.

In Figs. 1 and 2 is shown an end and side view of a cylinder of transparent rigid material, organic or inorganic, which has been made into semi-cylindrical lenses by this invention. The rod 20 has been slit longitudinally along a diameter 2| into two half cylinders 22-23 Which may be assembled side by side to serve as lenses of a isf .gfiaffsiieh o f l 'sesby the slitting of cylinders. l u

v[Such lenses`,regardl`ess of the extent vof fthe arc orjinolded in lensfforrn in orderfto save the cost of` slitting thecylinders, but for some uses the `sli17tinfg`` is preferred. Afterfslittingor molding thejlenses m-ay be polished if necessary. In1Fig 3 is shown the construction of a stereo billboard with lenticular screen.'4 In those figures 2,5

supports 26-`21 are placedLjThese supports are madejofj matched and'evenlthickness., The lenses 22"-23 are mounted, hat sidedownQside by side uponthesupports.' "Screws, nails, or adhesives' may be vused toattach the lenses to the support.

. 1res are ifiafuseiutti rds forfdistant vieWjsNbut they illustrate" fithe vprinciples applicable tothe making:

V presents a billboard offstandard wooden ori metal construction upon rwhich two horizontal ganga@ For use with nails or screws the lenses may have holes near theirl ends. Once thelenses are mountl eds` ybilitl'iefsuppo'rts they "arev not' disturbed, but the supports are attached to and removed from the billboardvat will. Thus, the screen becomes a unitapplicable to use withany picture having stereo lineage upon which thelenses canfocus.

Its. .`spacin`g from thester'eo'line picture isdeterl rninedIbythe thicknessof supports 26T-21. .1t

maylb'e constructed in sections 'adaptedtoeasy handling. l L f y `Whe`n the lenses are long there 'is a material change in length with changes in atmospheric conditions such as temper-ature, particularly with certain plastics. When the lenses are immovably fixed they may be warped by a heat Wave sufficiently to distort the image. This is overcome by supporting vone end of the lenses on a movable bar 28, which is snugly held against the face of the board by guides 29, and compensates for the expansion of the lenses by moving along the face f the board'under the guides.

The ordinary billboard of the prior art has a surface resembling a relief map, being well provided with the recognizable contours of physical geography. Such boards are not useful in my invention, wherein .a board is provided that has a smooth nat surface that will hold the picture in true stereo register through the most varied weather. Such a board is shown in Fig. 6, wherein a frame is indicated at 30, to which a plywood sheet 3| is removably attached. In preparing the picture for exposition the board is removed from the frame land taken to the studio, where it is coated with a photographic emulsion 32, exposed to enlargement projection of the desired picture, developed by spraying or swabbing with appropriate solutions, transported to the field frame, mounted, and covered with the viewing screen in stereo register.

The enlargement projection maybe of a Whole picture in stereo lines, one operation completing v the exposure of the whole picture. `Photolofting fo'fficnbiof 'iight to increase "the brilliance of `the picture.- Thus, in Figf"7 each section has plywood base 34535, areecting surface such as d glass,A4 paint, silver, or stainless steel in a thin" sheet 3 6, onthe surface of which the photosensitive emulsione] is attached. p

`V`According to Fig. 8, proper stereo spacing is ob'- tain'edbyv mounting the lenses 22 upon a glass or plastic sheet 38.l Transparent adhesive may be employed lfor the `joint or onecf the elements 22-438 may be'thermoplastic and selfattached to the other. o

[The method is exposed to the'raysof projector 90 and receives enlargedstereo'lines 39 from the 1plate in the prol-A Theprocessis applicable to'all the standard methods of preparing pictures yin stereo lines, including the projection of stereo lines and also the projeectionY of a seriesl of ordinary photographsy of an object, taken from different angles, through" astereoline or Alenticular screen before the emulsion.

lAs stated, either line .orlenticular screensfcan bejused, but in using line screens, wherein rthe transparent lines are ne compared to the opaque lines it is preferred to use lights `to illuminate opaque pictures. and 1 1. wherein `a battery of reiiector lights 40 isdirected upon the surface 'of lthe board 3 l`, brightly illuminating the stereo lines. The stereo lihesoreen 41, spaced inV stereo register from the 'board has'opaque lines 4`2"that are much wider than the transparent lines 43. Nevertheless, even in daytime an excellent result is secured by this part of the invention, particularly if the space between screen and picture is great enough to permit the light to be thrown at an acute angle to the board.

Plywood is useful as a picture support, but any material that will keep flat under the conditions of use may be employed. Thus, material having fiatness unaffected by weather, such as metal, is useful outdoors, but less costly construction may be employed inside. Thus, a smooth plaster wall is excellent under some circumstances.

In Fig. 12 is shown a lens with a 10 radius of curvature made by shaving one side of a square plastic rod, or" by molding or extrusion. In order to save materials they are possibly made thinner than indicated in the drawing.

In Fig. 13 is illustrated the method of spacing the twenty pictures of a multiple camera for projection upon a, billboard from different distances. The marks n, indicate points in the picture at a distance seven feet from the lenticular screen 5D, which is placed before the photographic surface 5l. The twenty separate views are projected from the selected angle, which is maintained whether the projection be from seven feet as at n, 14 feet as at o, or'25 feet as at p. At the greater distances the pictures must be spread apart to maintain the correct angular relation between them. Projection is from the angles at which the picture is to be viewed.

This method has the advantage of permitting the use of large negatives with full area single images. Retouching is possible, but not by the moving camera process. Regis-tration problems are eliminated because the projecting screen is also the viewing screen.

It is to be understood, however, that a stereo line negative can be used for projection if adey of projection upon abillboard or a4 section is U shown diagrammatically in Fig. 9,

wherein the-'section 34,A coated asshown in Fig. 7,;

This is `villustrated in Figs. 10'

quateicare istaken lin-proiecting and nmatchingscreen dimensions.

In Fig. 14 the numeral 60 indicates the billboard stereo line picture, 6l the lenticular screen, and 62 a 20-inch viewing arc whichmeans that all views behind one lens `can be seen by moving 20 inches. The lenses used are of 30-inch focal length and have 10.4 ft. radius of curvature. The stereo line picture was made from flat negatives projected through the screen 6I from a distance of seven feet, subtending an arc of 20 before the subject.

AThe -same principles apply to` line screens. Sky reectcrs for daylight use may be employed with them to lend brilliance to a transparency. Transparent and opaque picturesl may alike be employed on stereo billboards. are used the billboard may be made of glass.

KThe major advantage of the invention is that the; limitation of small size has been removed from the field of stereo photography.

.Another advantage is the extension of'stereo views to billboard size by novel methods and apparatus.

Another advantage is in the new method of` preparing stereo lenticular screens.

As many apparently widely-different embodiments of the present invention may be madel If transparencies ing distance, from an arc of about 20 inches.

2. A method of making stereo bill boards 4tl'iat-Z comprises establishing a preferred viewing distance, determining theangle vSubtended ai; that distance by an arc of about 20 inches, projecting a photograph of Athe display in stereol lines onto a sensitized surface the size of the billboard 1 from a locationlaterally bounded by the Vsides cfs-aid angle, developingthe exposed surface-Lin*l stereo lines, and arranging a stereo viewing screen of similar size and lineage before the*A stero line picture in focus with the picture at the preferred viewing distance.

GENE TOWNE.

REFERENCES CITED The followingreferences are of record in they le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,150,374 Kanolt Aug. 17, 1914 1,475,430 Curwen Nov. 27, 1923 1,992,608 Deninson Feb. 26, 1935 2,154,109 Parks Apr. 11, 1939 2,432,896 Hotchner Dec. 16, 194'! Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,514,814c -Ju1y 11, 195,0

GENE TOWNE It `igifherehy certified that error appears in numbeedlvpatent requirihg correction as follows: u Column 1, line the 'Vid lineage read expense; a

and that the saidflietterg Patent should be read as corrected above, softha'tthersahe may conform to thA-"xfeooid of the oaseginf the Patent O'ce. j

v Signed and sealedV this 8rd dayfof October, A. D. l950.

specification of the above THoli-ISIF. MUPHY,

Asszs'nt Commissioner of Patents. 

